Best spot for some Derek Boogaard insight (updated all day)

(ed. note: Just so there’s no confusion, not trying to plug the blog with that headline on top. …. I meant that Michael Russo’s blog was the best spot for Derek Boogaard insight, not Rangers Report.)

Michael Russo of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, who broke the story about Derek Boogaard being found dead in his apartment last night, is also probably the media member who knew him best from his days with the Wild. The two stayed in touch even during Boogaard’s injury-wrecked season with the Rangers.

As you can see, we will continue to update here as things become available.

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Here is the statement from NHL commissioner Gary Bettman:

COMMISSIONER BETTMAN STATEMENT REGARDING DEREK BOOGAARD

NEW YORK (May 14, 2011) — Gary Bettman, commissioner of the National Hockey League, today released the following statement regarding the passing of New York Rangers forward Derek Boogaard:

“The news that we have lost someone so young and so strong leaves everyone in the National Hockey League stunned and saddened. The NHL family sends its deepest condolences to all who knew and loved Derek Boogaard, to those who played and worked with him and to everyone who enjoyed watching him compete.”

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Jesse Spector is reporting that the Minneapolis medical examiner’s office is saying it could take weeks for a cause of death to be determined.

So, just a suggestion, let’s not jump to conclusions or try to play doctor, OK? We all have some ideas of what might have happened, but until we know, we ought to keep those to ourselves.

ye in that Star Tribune piece, someone in the comments section wrote that there’s a video of Boogy and Frolov at the kid’s charity, and he was holding the hand of a little girl when she asked him who he was, he told her “Im Derek Boogaard, I play hockey for the NYR”, she told him ” Oh ye, I know you, you score a lot of goals.” He got a big smile on his face and said, “No, that’s not me.” This just breaks my heart.

I read Michael Russo’s blog before coming over here and through his words you could tell that Boogaard was more than another hockey player to him and to many others. I’m not sure if most Ranger’s fans felt the pain of Boogaard’s passing when they read about it late last night or early this morning; he just seemed like another player at whom Sather threw a lot of money for no apparent reason but there is more to the man than what we saw last season. Condolences to his family and all those that knew him as a special person in their lives!

Regardless of how he died, 28 is too young… the important thing here is to make the most out out your lives people, don’t make something out of this before you even know what happened. Channel that energy into something productive in your life, or in the lives of others. RIP Boogaard.

If we don’t get full disclosure, it’s none of our business. I wish public figures, upon their death, would be able to have theirs and their family’s privacy maintained. Just because they led public lives doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be able to rest in peace. This is going to be tough to deal with for a long time. We all should be able to keep his memory alive forever. I cannot even imagine how this must be for Aaron and Ryan.

“On behalf of all Derek’s teammates, I would like to say that he was a great friend and a great teammate and that we are all going miss him dearly. This is a tragic loss for the hockey community. All of our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family” – Rangers Captain, Chris Drury.

One thing about the Rangers, especially since the 1990s, they pretty much all are involved at very high levels in charitable work. And most of the time, unlike some of our other sports teams around here, they’re not looking for any publicity about it.

I agree. The Rangers do things just to help. Like George M. Steinbrenner III said, if more than 2 people know about the good deed, then you did it for the wrong reasons. He set an example for all of us to live by, by helping others and not looking for approval. Hope Week 2009 was one of the greatest things I’ve ever seen in all of sports history. The amount of children that had their lives touched was extraordinary. Adam Graves is another, spends much of his life helping just to help. And Boogaard, just a lovely, wonderful, teddy bear with a heart of gold. RIP Mr. Steinbrenner. RIP Boogaard. You’re God’s Booguardian now.

so far we’ve heard from Biron, Prust, MDZ, Cally, and now Boyle on Boogy’s passing. looking forward to Torts, Gabby, would like to hear from Voros too. seems like he touched a lot of lives. wish we knew him more.

My condolences go out to his family and friends. Hockey aside, it’s terrible when anyone dies, especially someone so young. I hope you are at peace, Boogey. It’s very sad, and I really didn’t know anything about him before his death, but it looks like he touched a lot of lives.
Protect us from above big guy.

I think there should absolutely be some sort of ceremony commemorating his life, regardless of his short tenure with the rangers, as a part of the season opener. Its so wrong that this guy in the prime of his life gets it taken from him. This sucks.

“Boogy was such an amazing teammate and more importantly a caring, beloving friend. Anytime anything happened or if you needed anything, Boogy was always there. He was always a pleasure to be around. Always joking, and having fun. He will be truly missed!”

We’ll get back to hockey talk tonight, in about an hour, OK? I’m always uneasy about changing topics at a time like this, but given that the conference finals start and I’m sure a lot of youse will be watching, we should have a new thread.

“As big of a man as Derek was, his heart was even bigger. I hope that his family, friends and most importantly, those who didn’t know him, understand what a great teammate he was and how much he meant to us all.” – Sean Avery